Getting Around

By now I recognize the pattern. The first few days are a flurry of getting settled for most of the team. There is so much to learn in a very short time.

The hotel has its own set of idiosyncrasies, all to be explored. The sinks have funky drain covers, the air conditioning is chancy, the beds – well, let’s just say they are make a board look soft. Chinese beds are typically made with a bottom sheet and a padded duvet covered with a white sheet. But sometimes there are two sheets, a blanket, and a bedspread. And theme and variation of the two. Towels? There are supposed to be bath towels and hand towels. Sometimes that happens. Forget the concept of a typical housekeeping staff in a typical western hotel where there are systems and routines.

Team members who have never been here need to find supplies, stores, and walking routes to those places. They need to understand the subway system and the busses and the taxis. During the first few days more experienced team members are leading the others around and teaching them the paths, but our goal is to build independence from the first day.

“I’m directionally challenged,” says one team member. My response, “Learn to memorize the buildings so you can find your way back. Someone can’t go with you every time.”

“OK,” says the team member. “I’ll try.” And then I proceed to model the way I memorize buildings in a new foreign city, pointing out each landmark as we leave and then retracing our steps.

Night by night, day by day, we push the borders outward, forcing the team to stand on their own feet, find their own way, learn their own routines.

It’s happening. I hear one say, “I’m heading to the Chinese grocery. Anyone want to go?”

“No,” says another, “but could you pick me up a two liter bottle of milk?”

“Sure,” comes the response.

Another says,“Can I tag along and learn the way?”

The same holds for teaching. As the week progresses, lessons are modeled by experienced teachers and the “newbies” learn the ropes. Debrief of each session raises questions, teaching moments, and confidence builds. By Saturday each new teacher will model a lesson themselves.

And then, they have to sail on their own.

Fortunately the students are very forgiving and learning will happen. The motto is, “If your students are speaking English, they are learning English.” The most important thing an English teacher can do is start the activity, sit down, and let the students talk.

Getting the pattern takes time and patience, but it happens. Lots of people are praying for this team. This is one of the results.